Logroño – city of farewells

We arose late to a quick non-breakfast at the Albergue and left at 0800am. The weather was kind – overcast and not too hot.   Second breakfast was in a picnic area outside the Ermita de la Trinidad de Cuevas beneath a grove of trees. The hermitage was built on …

Shrek’s Bridge in Bristol?

My first thought on seeing Pero’s Bridge was that Bristol had a tide-driven sound-sculpture. Either that or Shrek was the chief designer. But it turns out that the horns were functional in a different way; as counter-weights for the bascules. This is a bridge that can be raised to allow …

Christmas steps – a hidden gem in Bristol UK

Bristol is a fascinating place with a unique history in Britain. The tours will tell you about Brunel and the Clifton Bridge or the SS Great Britain, but we were introduced to one of Bristol’s lesser-known hidden gems by our local guide and friend Jules Woolford. It involves a staircase and …

Singapore’s Colourful markets

You can taste the air, thickly laden with moisture and heat and frangipani, as soon as you step off the plane in Singapore’s Changi airport. It was quite a contrast with the minus 3C we experienced flying out of Canberra’s Winter chill. Singapore is ideally placed to be a global …

Caiguna – start of a long straight

It’s easy to romanticise the truckers – ‘knights of the road’ – as they carry the nation’s goods from east to west and back again. There is no doubt they are skilful drivers and their job is a tough one. While these days they have power steering and air conditioning …

Caiguna Blowhole

Around 5km west of Caiguna on the Nullarbor Plain, you will see a blue sign pointing the way to the Caiguna Blowhole. The sign breaks the monotony of the view 🙂 The Caiguna blowhole is disturbingly close to the highway, being only about 20m from the road, and it marks …

Eucla – connecting east and west

Eucla Telegraph Station The Eucla telegraph station was particularly important because prior to Federation in 1901, South Australia and Victoria used American Morse code, whereas the rest of the country used International Morse Code. So the station was staffed by both South Australian and Western Australian telegraphists – separated by a …

Western Australian Border

Borders Borders are interesting places – they mark a transition – in this case from the State of South Australia to the State of Western Australia. It is a transition of both space and time. Yes, Central Australia has its own timezone – our third time-zone since leaving home. So …

Bunda Cliffs

From Nullarbor Roadhouse it is easy to see that we are right in the middle of a great plain once covered by ocean. The land is salty and the topsoil is quite thin, making it pretty useless for intensive agriculture. The bedrock beneath is limestone and beneath that is a …